The Zozobra (also known as "Old Man Gloom") is a giant marionette effigy constructed of wood, wire, and cotton cloth that is built and burned prior to the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States. It stands 50 feet high. As its name suggests, it embodies gloom and anxiety; by burning it, people destroy the worries and troubles of the previous year in the flames. Anyone with an excess of gloom is encouraged to write down the nature of their gloom on a slip of paper and leave it in the "gloom box" found in the City of Santa Fe Visitors' Centers in the weeks leading up to the burn. Participants can also add documents on the day of the burning, up until 8 pm MT, at a "gloom tent" in the venue where they can add to the marionette's stuffing. Legal papers, divorce documents, mortgage pay-offs, parking tickets, and even a wedding dress –– all have found their way into Zozobra to go up in smoke. At the festival, glooms from the gloom box are placed at Zozobra's feet to be burned alongside it.
Each year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, over 60,000 people attend the event. The Friday Burning of Zozobra is followed by festive events over the Labor Day weekend, with Desfile de Los Niños, the Children's Pet Parade on Saturday, the Hysterical-historical Parade on Sunday, and a traditional mass at St. Francis Cathedral on Sunday night.
Since receiving all rights to the Zozobra pageant in 1964 from creator Will Shuster, the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe has built Zozobra and burned the effigy at Fort Marcy Park. The Zozobra that burned on September 7, 2007, was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest marionette in the world, at the time measuring (49 ft 10.82 in) in height.
The Burning of Zozobra at Fort Marcy Park in Santa Fe, New Mexico, was traditionally held in September; however, ticket sales in advance of the event improved in 2014 when it was moved to the Friday immediately before Labor Day.
Directed by Michael Jiroch
Zozobra, the Burning Gloom
